The King has new clothes!

It would seem like cause for celebration with the King coming to Los Angeles but our joy is muted.  After signing, LeBron James was at the NBA summer games in Laker regalia cheering on 7-10 guys that will never wear a regular season Laker uniform.  James should help end the Laker’s playoff lapse and transition from out of this moribund period in Laker history.  It could be the return of Showtime or at least matinee time! But still how can the Yard celebrate when Southwest Airlines has announced that peanuts will no longer be provided during flight service effective August 1.  SWA is our charter service and those peanuts are the bomb, not the honey roast, the dry roast.  The times they are changing.

The United States not being in the World Cup does not matter to hard core Premier League soccer fans but it does matter to the rest of us.  There are lots of reasons that US soccer is so mediocre.  The highest finish that the US has ever achieved in World Cup was in the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay.  The main qualifier for the 1930 World Cup was to be able to get a team to frigging Uruguay in 1930.  The requirements are more about Benjamin’s these days for Qatar in 2022 not steamer trunks. The 1930 US hopefuls lost to Argentina 6-1 in the semifinals.  They were awarded 3^rd place when the former Yugoslavia refused to play the consolation game after a 6-1 loss to Uruguay.   

With the large migration from Europe to the US in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, soccer was the sport that was played in their neighborhoods.  America was a country of immigrants back then.  These immigrants played soccer when not pursuing their dreams. Soccer was wildly popular and there was even a semi-professional soccer league before the NFL. The American brand of football evolved in colleges and ultimately the NFL was founded in 1920. Prior to these Darwinian events, soccer was still more popular through the 20’s and 30’s.  As American football carved out it’s unique place in the world, FIFA marched on with the rest of the world with the real futbol.  At that time, there was collegiate football but not collegiate soccer.  Over the next generations, these immigrants assimilated into this amalgamation of cultures.  The NFL was the winner of those athletes.   There was not a team in the cup in 2018 that had better athletes than the best in this country not playing soccer.  In Europe and South America, their best athletes play soccer.  In the US, they play everything but soccer.  There are great athletes in US soccer just not all of our best.  Interestingly, the French World champions are 67% immigrants or sons of immigrants.  US soccer could benefit from the next generational shift back away from the NFL with CTE and concussion issues.

LeBron coming to LA was the only outcome.  The King could no longer remain in Cleveland.  He accomplished what he told the city he would when he wrote his open letter upon his return in 2014.  He indicated that his goal was to bring one title to Cleveland.  He had opportunities for three others but the one was his only commitment.  James has learned over the years from the wildly decried “The Decision” with ESPN and Jim Gray.  This time, there was barely an announcement and it was quick.  James realized he wanted to team up with Magic and possibly close out his career with this legendary team.  If he is able to get the Lakers a title or even two, he will have a statute out front with Chick, Jerry and Magic and put his jersey in the rafters.  James will be driven to validate this decision.  He wants to continue his recovery efforts with his third straight city hungry for a title.  We certainly hope he accomplishes that goal.

The Warriors are still the franchise to beat with the signing of Boogie Cousins to be their beast off the bench. The move would appear to greatly strengthen the two time defending champions.  It could also be a Trojan horse sent by the rest of the NBA to get into the Golden State locker room and cause turmoil.  Cousins has been a smoldering superstar his entire career.  Boogie has averaged 21 & 10 in his nine NBA seasons.  He has never really made his team better while playing well for himself.  In 2017, he did set the record for getting to the 16 Technical fouls automatic suspension limit in 50 games.  It was the fastest ever. Anthony Davis and Cousins made a formidable low post presence for the Pelicans last season before Cousins went down with a season ending Achilles tear after 48 games last year.  Over the final three months of the season NOLA went 21-13 and swept the equally impressive Portland Trailblazers in the first round of the playoffs.  To make the playoffs, they needed to beat a lot of good teams in the West including Golden State at home.  They accomplished all of this after Cousins went down.

Boogie is not a defense guy nor is he and an up and down the court guy.  He can shoot a three.  Warriors play defense and get up and down the floor and shoot threes.  The Warriors already have Draymond who is a punk in any other city.  We are not sure if there is enough room in the locker room for two punks.  Jerry West is unavailable, working to save the Clippers now after showing the Warriors the way.  The Warriors are going to have time to figure this out since Cousins will not be able to play until February at the earliest.  Golden State got him on the cheap but he will only playing half of a season while recovering from his injury.  

Last summer the Dodgers traded for Yu Darvish to hopefully deliver a championship to their thirsty fans.  Darvish was the real deal until he needed be the real deal in the World Series.  Yo Garbage had two of the worst starts in series history. Two games started, 3.1 total innings pitched, 9 hits, 9 runs, 2 walks no K’s, 21.60 ERA.  Dave Roberts choosing Yu over Alex Wood or even Kershaw to start game 7 after the disaster in Game 3 was the fatal coaching error from which the crew would never recover.  Even in that aftermath, the Dodgers considered re-signing Garbage with Kershaw pleading with management to pull the trigger.  Dodger management demurred and the Cubs signed him to a 6-year $126 million fully guaranteed deal.  Darvish is off to a blistering start with 1-3 record, 4.79 ERA and has not pitched since May 20.  Dodgers then traded for Kemp who was last seen at the buffet at Shakey’s.  With Kemp’s bloated contract and belly, the locals were none to excited to see this trade executed.  Mattie has been the foundation of the season so far.  He is an All-Star and a leader in the clubhouse.  This year we are renting another Manny.  Should be exciting but the bar is set at winning a championship anything less is a disappointment.

Legalized gambling is exploding since the Supreme Court ruled it is a state decision. Individual states can allow their constituency to prognosticate on sporting events with their money at risk. Tax revenue based on people making bad decisions is the American way.  Several states have already jumped in but the state that is going to benefit the most is Nevada.  The Silver State has had legalized gambling since 1951.  Vegas has always been nimble helping people find new ways to piss their money away. In an ideal gambling scenario for the house, the take is 10%.  The odds are adjusted in this business model to load level the money on either side of the outcome while taking 10% off the top.  This ten percent is the gross amount of the revenue not net.  There are people processing these bets, drinks provided to entice you to make more bets, and flat screens everywhere to see your cover six win by five.  Ten percent for all of that and that is if the odds are right.  Last Super Bowl, all of the money was coming in on the Eagles even though the Patriots were the favorite.  Vegas odds makers kept moving the line like the Federal Reserve a ½ point at time.  Philadelphia was always the underdog and won outright.  Bettors cashed on the cover, the money line and the over. The ten percent for Nevada became. 1.5%.  The books had $115 million in play on the game for a 1.5% return.  There are not very many industries or departments within a larger enterprise that can survive while grossing 1.5% profit.

The Las Vegas business model has the Sports Book as a bundled service.  The patron at the book who just lost two Benjamin’s is afforded the unique opportunity to win them back at blackjack.  Hope springs eternal when surrounded by slots machines with a free drink in hand. With the family at the movies, bowling or the spa, no one is too far their patron.  Casinos are multi-billion dollar enterprises.  The embedded sports book is a multi-million dollar sub-diversion.  The money that will be bet in the newly minted sports books will not come from Las Vegas revenue streams.  The vendors losing these customers are all of the off shore betting sites.  States will be repatriating the money from their constituents to their state tax rolls.  Las Vegas will be the net winner in this expansion.  Las Vegas has over 60 years of “best practices” for these nascent enterprises. The NBA is already cutting a deal with MGM.  The NHL is next.  The NFL has been quiet but they are the 800 lb. Gorilla that drives the world of sports gambling. 

The hypocrisy of the NFL as it relates to gambling is as laughable as the NCAA and their amateur athletes.  The NFL has stood tall against gambling since the 1960’s.  In 1963, the league suspended Alex Karros and Paul Hornug for gambling $50-100 on several NFL games.  Back then the NFL players had a minimum salary of $6,000 with a league average of about $25,000.  It was feared gamblers could lure or blackmail a player into affecting the outcome of the game.  In 2018, the minimum amount a player can make is $480,000.  It is hard to imagine that a player making the minimum could affect the outcome of a game.  The person that could possibly do that is making $20 million a year.  The interest and excitement in the NFL has everything to do with Fantasy football, the cover, the over and all of the other choices a fan has to support their team, their player or their hunch.  All of it is gambling at some level.  Money is spent in an effort to win more of it based on an uncontrollable outcome unless it is the Browns.

The Lake show went from 35 wins in 2017-18 to a projected 49 wins in 2018-19 with the LeBron signing.  The total actually jumped to over 51 wins before sanity returned.  LeBron lead a superior Cleveland team, compared to the Lakers, to 50 wins in an inferior NBA East.  The Lakers went 1-9 against the Warriors, Blazers and Rockets last season.   The Lakers are probably back in the playoffs next year but not a contender.  James did not commit to any championships but a King is expected to reclaim the crown for the city of the Angels.  Anything less would be a disappointment.